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“Smart” Dressing Provides Doctors Warning of Wound Infections

Biologics, Wound Care, Infection Prevention April 11, 2016

BiMedis has already featured a very interesting article about the clinical trials of the handheld autofluorescence imaging platform, PRODIGI. In recent times, several freshness indicators have been patented for food products which react to time and temperature, letting you know when something spoils. Now, researchers have developed a wound dressing that glows green when it detects the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the wound. Just like the PRODIGI, this smart dressing offers early detection of harmful bacteria and will have a profound effect on the prevention of complications and may reduce the use of antibiotics.

A dressing unlike any other

As the famous writer, philosopher and politician, Benjamin Franklin (the guy on the $100 bill) once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” A team of British scientists took it upon themselves to develop a smart wound dressing that changes color when it comes into contact with certain bacteria. In a wound, bacteria from the surrounding skin and other sources quickly find their way in and start to multiply forming colonies. This is absolutely normal, but there are some cases where the bacterial load reaches a critical point, at which immune clearance is no longer effective. It’s at this point that medical intervention becomes a must, so Ben Franklin hit the nail right on the head.

The scientists tested their prototype dressing using a pig skin model of burn wound infection, as it is very similar to human skin, and found that it was very effective for detecting infections caused by bacteria that encase themselves in a biofilm. Like any living thing, bacteria also have their own interests to uphold, and they protect them fiercely by enclosing themselves in a protective “bubble”, or the more technical term, an extracellular polymeric matrix.

Prevention is key

Toby Jenkins, a Biophysical Chemist in charge of the project explains that, “Our medical dressing works by releasing fluorescent dye from nanocapsules triggered by the toxins secreted by disease-causing bacteria within the wound. The nanocapsules mimic skin cells in that they only break open when toxic bacteria are present; they aren’t affected by the harmless bacteria that normally live on healthy skin. Using this dressing will allow clinicians to quickly identify infections without removing it, meaning that patients can be diagnosed and treated faster. It could really help to save lives.”

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